LTJG Joe Wilson
1920-2001

I met Joe as a brand new ensign assigned to MCB-11 in 1962. Joe was a good ol’ Texas boy, at one time a BUC, and at that time a Warrant Officer. Five more new ensigns joined the battalion about that time. Some of them – not me – liked to kid Joe about their “superior” rank. That all changed when Joe was commissioned a LTJG, and then he reminded them who was superior.

Joe was like a big brother to us, as far as teaching us about going on liberty. On Guam after Typhoon Karen there weren’t many places to go on liberty, but he taught us how to party anyway. We had to wait until Okinawa for the real lessons. Joe was in charge of A Company during those deployments. He and his chiefs ran it like a well-oiled machine.

Joe retired to Valley View Texas. He was a good man, and I was lucky to know him.

Tony Pizza
C Company 1962 - 65

This is not an obituary, but some comments from a friend of Joe's